Digital tools that help you monitor and control your home when you’re not around

Whether you want to check up on the housekeeper, monitor your home while vacationing in Tuscany, or keep tabs on your beach house during the off-season, there’s now a plethora of digital tools that can help. New wireless components not only dodge the hassle of hooking up a remotely monitored, hardwired security system, they make covert installation a breeze: no holes required.

Companies like Cisco and D-Link offer stand-alone video cameras that share footage with you via the Web through your home’s Wi-Fi network. The next step up are systems with multiple cameras, like those from Logitech Alert or Defender, which offer high-definition video and sizable digital storage space. But surveillance products only let you watch what’s happening; to actually control your electronic systems from afar, there are services like Schlage LiNK, which, in addition to providing security cameras, offers full home automation. From your laptop or smartphone you can lock and unlock doors, switch on lights, and adjust the thermostat. These features won’t help catch intruders (though they might assist in scaring them off), but they are convenient. You can give a repairman emergency access and even fire up the furnace when you plan to arrive on a wintry night.

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